Historical Theology
Historical theology has become an interesting toping amongst the church today. The word theology can be broken down into two words through Greek mythology, theos to mean God and logos to mean word. Thus, theology refers to reflecting about God and his disclosures. The word theology is not, however, biblical as it existed way before Christianity in the early times with some aspects of Christianity. Other writers have referred to theology as a clear understanding of God. Most of the times it refers to the aspects that are directly linked to God
Existence of Christianity existed when people believed about multiple gods; however, over time, polytheism became outdated, especially among the arising intellectuals. People began to believe the assumption that there existed one God, and this analogy spread all over. Though theology was perceived to have a strict meaning in the past, the meanings became diverse during the 12 and 13nth century. Schleiermacher in his book argues that theology contains three aspects, philosophical theology- that identifies the essence of the church, practical theology –that refers to the practical techniques used by church and historical theology-that relates to the history of Christianity and its current needs and wants.
Theology has been linked to the greater public with Schleiermacher arguing that areas that the society stands to have a well-educated clergy. However, this assumption has been challenged with the rise in secularism and pluralism in most countries. The position of Christianity in education has been questioned severally with some of the individuals arguing that theology has become fragmented into multiple unrelated practical differences. There have been questions about the connection between biblical studies and pastoral theology.
The primary source of theology is the Bible that gives information about the historical groundings of Christ that include the birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Christianity is more about the belief of Christ rather than the whole text itself, which is brought about in the New Testament. Historical theology is linked up with two disciplines, church history and theological history despite the fact that they are distinct components. Christian theology is regarded as universal and attempts to bring more light about the doctrines of Christ. This doctrine includes the doctrine of traditional sin that is wiped away through baptism and lays on the foundation of Christ and his work. Through His death and resurrection, believers have a new pathway where they can repent and be forgiven. Historical theology helps Christians to question on the major themes and identify with the works that have been discussed. Additionally, knowledge of past history helps them gain strengths and weakness on current theological issues and have a better understanding. Lastly, historical theology acts as a landmark for Christianity thinking that remains relevant to today’s major discussions, debates and controversies.
Factors that Cause Controversies in the Early Medieval Church
The early Mediaeval Church refers to the era when Roman Catholic was the most dominant religion. The foundation of most of the population was Christianism, and at the time it only meant cat holism and no other religion. The church drew its authority from the teachings of the Bible that gave power to Apostle Peter, the disciple of Jesus, as the rock of the church in Matthew 16-18-19. He was regarded as the first Pope, the leader of the church, and his following successors followed this divine authority. The church followed a defined hierarchy where the Pope was the head of the church, Cardinal were advisors of the church, Bishops were heads of specified cathedrals, and priests had authority over parishes and monastic orders which gave orders in monasteries.
However, over time several reasons led to controversies in n the Early Mediaeval Church. For example, the rates of corruption in the church gave rise to reformers such as John Wycliffe who Condemned heresies in the church. The church acted as regulation over an individual’s life since birth until death continually into a past life. It showed God’s Manifestation to the world, and people were not supposed to argue with its doctrines. However, during the Black Death pandemic, the church received a huge blow as people began to doubt these doctrines. Thus, it led to power crush of the church and entry of thoughts of religious freedom.
The church in the middle age was characterized by greed and corruption from the immense collection of wealth through tithes and lavish gifts. Accumulation of wealth by people in the higher hierarchies meant that they heard more power. There were occurrences of threats from bishop’s o people with lower roles. Some of those who could not tolerate the continued abuse of the church sought spiritual deliverance elsewhere, for example, the Cathars from France. The communities that did not conform to Catholic were often condemned, such as the orthodox community that still followed catholic doctrines.
Additionally, reforms in these times were rare as people highly believed in the existence of hell and heaven and feared to go against the church and face the wrath of God. The Protestant need to reform was not an act of to overthrow the power given to the Roman Catholic church yet an act of effort to save the church from corruption and people abuse .for example; Martin Luther was one of the reformers who criticized the money-making schemes by clergies that was not biblically authorized and showed no spirituality.
How the Early Fathers solved their Issues.
The church, even in the Bible is not perfect. It must be ready to stand the test of time and faith of Christ and show that even amidst challenges, Christians believe in the resurrected saviour (Christ).To have been in the early church would have been a great experience as God worked in unbound ways and manifested His powers in powerful ways. However, the early church also faced problems. In Acts, the church goes through the challenge of prosecution. According to acts chapter, 4 peter and John were speaking about the gospel when they were seized and put in a cell. These acts of prosecution continue through to chapter 5, and in Chapter 8, the church gets its first martyr where Stephen was stoned to death after proclaiming Christ. However, these Christians did not lament about the consequent prosecution of their faith but grew strong in prayer and God’s word. Christ promises his disciples that faith is not an easy journey they must be willing to endure and continue feeding in spiritual food to make them stronger.
Secondly, the church faced the problem of hypocrisy. In acts 5; 1-11, Ananias and sapphire sold a piece of land and lied about the amount of money they sold the piece. In the text, Peter was gifted with the power of the Holy Spirit and was able to detect the lie. Jesus Christ while leaving his disciples promised them the Holy Spirit whom they received on the day of Pentecost. Apostles and Disciples used this fruits and gifts to solve their problems. Additionally, they understood the basis of division of labour through the basis of the Holy Spirit. They understood that he work of the church was not one man duty but required each and everyone’s support to serve the church according to the gifts they have been accorded.
Additionally, the early church furthers did not support division in the church. Whenever there was a problem, apostles always listened to it and brought the whole congregation to come up with a solution. They did not start blaming part of the church or lamenting bur rather explained their ministry and came up with conclusive guidelines and gave each of the church followers a task to with problem. The early church fathers give Christians a concrete foundation of how they should always sort out their help from God through prayers.
Relevance of the Issues Today.
The issues that faced the early church fathers have not aged abit. The relevance in the society today still stands as it did during the early church. Today, the church is faced by a deeper form of persecution where they are criticized for believing in the doctrines Christ in the modern world. Currently, Christianity faces the problem of identity as many other form of worships have come up .Additionally, the world has become more secular and pluralized and more arguments than ever before have risen about having faith in Christ therefore putting Christians to test.
Secondly, churches continue to face issues of hypocrisy. More Christians today do not follow the doctrines of the church and are only pure in the outside but remain to be darkened inwardly. Today, more Christians practice worldly behaviours but appear to be holier than thou in the church. There are more temptations including the need to have maximize wealth, opportunities and enjoy the pleasures of life that have made believers to lie about things in one way or another. The church is filled up with more luke-warm believers which is the greatest challenge of all. Additionally, the church continues to face realms of division. Daily more churches continue to arise with different doctrines that makes it confusing to believers what faith they should follow.
Today’s churches should seek to learn a lot from the early fathers and how they solved issues in churches. They should learn to always use the help they need from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was left to the disciples to act as a guide. The power from the Holy Spirit helps Christians to make desirable decisions and resist temptations. Church leaders should learn to always consult with the Holy Spirit as their precedent fathers did. Secondly, they should also learn that they are stronger when they hide in prayer and the word of God. A Christian builds his life on God by depending on Him through Prayer. In acts 2 the apostles identify that ‘it is not for us to neglect the word of God’. God’s word should be seen in how they make decisions, critical think and solve problems. Lastly, the leaders should learn to involve the whole church in making decisions and not act in a dictatorial way so as to foster unity.